Andrea Marino
Andrea Joyce Marino (sometimes spelled as Moreno), was one of the main characters in the television series, Ghost Whisperer, and had once worked in New York, as assistant district attorney, until her job changed. She moved to Grandview and obtained a job working at "Same As It Never Was", an antique store that is owned by Melinda. Andrea was a tall woman. She was single up until right before her death when she was dating and falling in love with a sensitive poet named Ashton Belluso. She was played by Aisha Tyler and was part of the main cast during season one. Andrea's family was never explored. However, her brother Mitch Marino regularly visited Andrea at Grandview, and was revealed when Andrea was to be crossed over that her father was also deceased. Andrea maintained best friend status to Melinda Gordon, who often confided in Andrea with her innermost secrets, and even trusting her enough to tell her of her gift to talk to the dead, to which Andrea appeared unusually pleased about. Andrea sometimes helped Melinda with her ghost problems whenever possible, and came to a shock to herself when she discovered that she was crushed by a plane and hadn't realized it. Character Overview Early Life Little is known about her early life. What is known is that Andrea has a brother named Mitch, and her father is deceased. Before living in Grandview, she traveled a lot but then decided to settle down in the small town. She works in Melinda's antique shop where she begins to become fond of Melinda. Before the show started, Melinda had to tell Andrea that the spirit who use to live in her apartment is following her, since pictures of his grandson are behind her stove, and he wants his daughter to have them. Melinda is, at first, afraid that Andrea will reject her, but Andrea finds her gift pretty cool. Season One Andrea becomes essential to the store and Melinda, because of the very fact that she knows about Melinda's gift. Such as, whenever Melinda has to run off and help a ghost, Andrea is left to keep the store. Andrea, at first, seemed ambitious and adventurous, wanting to try new and different things, such as learning Latin. Andrea also helps Melinda with difficult crossovers removing some of the stress from Melinda's husband, Jim Clancy. At the end of season one, it was revealed that it was Andrea who had died during the crash and not Mitch. While Andrea was not on the plane, she died because her car had been in the path that the plane had crashed on. In "Pilot", Andrea is first introduced during Melinda's wedding party, being the second main character introduced as Melinda throws some flowers behind her in which Andrea catches. Andrea appears to be a fun and lively woman, and getting Melinda to dance with her on the dancefloor. It's soon revealed that Andrea works for Melinda at their newly opened antique store, Same As It Never Was Antiques, where Andrea is learning Latin, an ambitious woman who tries different hobbies. Melinda confides in Andrea with her ghost problems, that Andrea must have known about Melinda's gift pre-series, and is fascinated by it, showing a keen interest and a will to help Melinda with her spirits. Her and Melinda occasionally go to Village Java and get coffee together, chatting about daily life and ghosts, and Melinda is very confident around Andrea and trusts her with her secrets. When Melinda is late for work, laid-back Andrea tells her not to worry about it. Andrea often helps Melinda to collect antiques from various locations to bring them to the store. In "The Crossing", Andrea is only ever seen in the store. A young boy named Dylan takes a liking to Andrea, perhaps a crush, and gives her a rock, which she accepts from him. Melinda asks a favor from Andrea, and Andrea does what she can to help Melinda. Melinda tells her that a ghost named Kenny is in the store and she must ghost-sit him. Andrea tries her best but doesn't do it right. Melinda tells Kenny the reason she isn't looking right at him is because she is blind. Later in the episode, Hank accuses Melinda of being fake and shouts at her because she told them of her gift and he was a skeptic. Melinda tells him that she isn't fake, and Andrea backs her up. Andrea helps Melinda uncover more about the court case that Hank and Candace, the parents of the ghost, had to go through since the car that became the tool to Kenny's death was sold to them by a dodgy man. Andrea knew a lot about courts, perhaps because she was a lawyer pre-series. When Kenny disappears, Andrea and Dylan go looking for him, even though Andrea can't see him, she is still willing to help out her best friend. Dylan's mother comes out and accuses Melinda and Andrea of not being responsible towards her child, but Andrea tells her not to blame Dylan for her bad judgment, taking the fall for him. In "Ghost, Interrupted", Andrea seems to spend most of her time in the store, usually with Melinda. Andrea is revealed to be single as Melinda and Jim are setting her up on a date with a co-worker of Jim's called Will. Andrea tries to get out of it, she doesn't do dates and is obviously nervous about meeting Will. When Melinda and Jim meet, Jim tells her that Will wants to see Andrea before the actual date, showing his reluctance to go on a date also. When it's time for Andrea's date with Will, when he doesn't show she makes excuses for him, as if she was hoping the excuses were real. But Will eventually turns up apologizing for being late. During the date, Will talks about his ex, telling Andrea stories such as how they met and when they order dessert, Andrea says they should have one of each, and Will says he loves her because his ex always said she didn't want dessert but ended up eating half of his anyway. When Melinda and Jim leave, Andrea and Will continue their date. Will walks Andrea home and she invites him in for coffee, but his ex-girlfriend rings him, and he answers. Andrea tells Will that he is still in love with his ex as he didn't stop talking about her all night, so she kisses Will on the cheek and tells him when he puts the "break" into break-up to give her a call. In "Mended Hearts", Andrea has Melinda and Jim over at her apartment celebrating, presumably, she had just moved into her apartment. Throughout, the three of them laugh and have a good time as they all seem really comfortable being around each other. Their celebrations are short-lived when Andrea's upstairs neighbour tries to drown herself in a bath and the water leaks through Andrea's ceiling. They three of them rush upstairs, and Jim saves Gwen's life as Andrea rings 911. The next day, Andrea is working in the store, and Melinda tells her of tax she has to pay, $15,000 and she can't afford it. Mysteriously, later in the episode, Melinda gets a letter saying that the debt had been paid in full, and Melinda is curious who it was, while Andrea changes the subject, suggesting a girl's night out with her and Gwen. It turns out to be a date between Gwen and Clifford, so Andrea and Melinda leave them and go for a walk. The next day, Melinda finds out that Andrea had paid the tax in full, and Andrea reveals she had money put away. When Melinda says she can't accept it, Andrea tells her she can pay her back when she can afford it, or make her partner. Melinda then agrees with the latter and Andrea is made partner and co-owner of Same As It Never Was Antiques. In "Lost Boys", Andrea accompanies Melinda to an old Inn to collect some items for their first ever Grandview Auction. Melinda asks Andrea to host the auction, but Andrea says she doesn't do well in front of crowds. When hearing noises, Andrea admits she hates rats, and finally caves in to host the auction after Melinda calls her beautiful. Andrea soon gets freaked out by the basement they are in and runs back upstairs. When Melinda returns to the basement, Andrea opens the door to hear Melinda talking to a ghost, and Andrea leaves, respecting Melinda's privacy with the ghosts. Andrea demonstrates curiosity about ghosts as she asks Melinda more questions about them, making Andrea more knowledgeable in the spiritual world. Later in the episode, Melinda tells Andrea about her "Grandview Historical Society" she will make up to keep Mr. Northrop from demolishing the old Inn, telling Andrea she can be vice-president, but Andrea uses an auction-authoritative style to tell her no. Later in the episode, Andrea hosts the first Same As It Never Was auction and does it with confidence and ease, even cracking a joke once or twice as she sells the items up for auction. Melinda distracts Andrea at times when she tells the ghost boys to be quiet, almost making Andrea believe that she was talking to her. Andrea does well for her first auction. In"Homecoming", Andrea and Melinda are at the store talking about Mitch, Andrea's older brother. Melinda reveals that Mitch is a millionaire, unusual since Andrea doesn't seem to be as rich. Andrea had invited Mitch to have drinks at Melinda's and Jim's house, even though Melinda doesn't want a millionaire to be in her house. However she caves, and Mitch goes to Melinda's that night with Andrea, and Mitch tells Melinda about when he and Andrea were kids, and he used to call her "Squeaky Wheel" or "Squeaky" for short because she used to follow him around everywhere and talk non-stop like a squeaky wheel. Mitch offers his services to Melinda and Jim after persuading them to flip the house. The following morning, Andrea is standing outside Same As It Never Was as bangs are heard inside. Melinda walks to her and asks what she is doing out there, and Andrea tells her there is a ghost inside. Some time later, Mitch and Andrea are looking at a house, and Mitch offers Andrea to live with him in the house. She says she likes her apartment but finally caves in. The next day, Andrea and Melinda are cleaning the store when Melinda goes round the back, and Andrea soon follows thinking she sees a ghost, which in fact it's just Sybil. The following day, Andrea and Melinda walk out of Village Java as they discuss secrets and why it's so hard to tell your family how you really feel. Andrea has some wise words, and Melinda confesses that she and Jim don't want to sell the house and asks if Andrea could tell Mitch for her. Andrea tells her absolutely, right after she tells him she is staying in her shoebox of an apartment. Andrea tells Melinda she isn't Squeaky anymore, and Melinda is glad. In"Hope and Mercy", Andrea is first seen in the store, asking if Jim was alright after his accident. Upon hearing he is fine, she tells Melinda she needs an indestructible man like Jim. Then Andrea tells Melinda she spent $1,100 on an antique watch she bought from an Australian man, and when Melinda looks at it, she tells her it's a fake, which comes at a blow for Andrea. The next day, the man comes back to the store, and Andrea wants to give him a piece of her mind, but Melinda says she will do it, so Andrea lets her and watches Melinda try to get the money back, but fails miserably. Andrea asks how it went, even though she knew, and laughs to herself. At a Flea Market, Andrea bumps into the man, Anthony, and he offers her to lunch, to which she says she will think about it. She does agree, and that night at Lento's, after Andres reveals she was an assistant DA in New York, she threatens Anthony to give her the money back, or she will make it her sole ambition to put him in jail. She leaves the restaurant, and her plan worked. The next morning, Andrea tells Melinda she got the money back from him, not telling Melinda the truth about what she did to get it back, but tells her instead that he probably felt ashamed and couldn't live with himself for conning them. Melinda buys the story as Andrea feels very good about herself. In"On the Wings of a Dove", Andrea can instantly tell when Melinda is being cold, as when Melinda gives Alexis the cold shoulder, Andrea picks up on it right away, even showing some jealousy when Alexis tells Andrea that she and Melinda used to best friends. Melinda tells Andrea they just drifted apart, but Andrea is curious to know more. Andrea listens to Melinda's problems with Jim, trying to come up with explanations and solutions to them. Melinda also notices some new flowers, and Andrea tells her they're from Alexis, and Melinda tells Andrea that Alexis told everyone her secret in College. Andrea is stunned and doesn't want Melinda to talk to her ever again. On a morning jog, Alexis runs alongside Andrea, but Andrea gives her the cold shoulder. Alexis then tells Andrea what actually happened to cause hers and Melinda's friendship to split, that Melinda was humiliated when she told everyone as they set up a "fancy dress party" and they told Melinda to dress as her fantasy, and she went as a fairy, only to discover everyone else dresses as ghosts. When Alexis tells Andrea that she had to listen to all of Melinda's problems all of the time, Andrea tells her that is just what friends do. Later, Andrea tries to hide from Alexis on the street, but Alexis knows it's her and convinces Andrea to talk to Melinda for her to see if she can get Melinda to go with her for lunch. Andrea tells Melinda but begs her not to go. In "Voices", Andrea is first seen in the Marketplace, noticing Jim being off with Ellis and also tells him off for eating the grapes he should pay for. She lets Jim rant on about Ellis to her though Andrea doesn't see what's so wrong with him, even though he is eyeing up a hot blonde, which Andrea cracks a joke about. At Same As It Never Was some time later, Andrea and Melinda are working, discussing the EVP. Andrea gets concerned when she realizes Melinda doesn't look well and offers to look after the store, though Melinda laughs and walks to the back, leaving Andrea with a kind of crushed look. While in the back, Andrea walks in and Melinda leaves about to sick, furthering Andrea's feelings of abandonment from Melinda. On a different day at Same As It Never Was, Andrea and Melinda are working behind the counter talking about Jim's situation with Ellis, and they converse until Melinda notices Kirk sitting outside in the Grandview Square, and without explaining to Andrea, she leaves her in the store again. Though Andrea's abandonment was a good storyline for the episode, this was never explored again throughout the series, though Melinda usually left Andrea to run the store so she could sort out her ghost business. In "Fury", Angela provides some powerful insight into how racism persists into contemporary times by telling Melinda how she was recently tackled by a security guard in a wine store because an American woman stole a bottle of wine and the guard, his assumption motivated by bigotry, believed Andrea to be the thief. Season Two Romano attempts to prevent Andrea from crossing over into the Light, and instead to join him on the Dark Side. Melinda would not allow such a horrific occurrence to happen to her friend, and so she sets out to stop Romano and warn Andrea. With the help of an occult professor at Rockland University, Rick Payne, Melinda can help Andrea find peace and cross over into the Light. During this time Melinda has a dream where Andrea, in fact, was in a coma at the hospital and survived the plane incident, however, this as in fact just wishful thinking on Melinda's part. Andrea is later mentioned in "Drowned Lives", "A Grave Matter", where Melinda visits Andrea's grave, "Delia's First Ghost" and "The Prophet". Season Three While having been successfully crossed over into the Light for over a year, two ghosts taunt Melinda by calling her Andrea during "Bad Blood", which reduces Melinda to tears. Season Four In the season four episode, "Leap of Faith", when Jim swims to rescue Melinda and hits his head, he has flashbacks of his past as Jim, and Andrea can be seen briefly when remembering his wedding with Melinda. Andrea's date of death is in the book of changes backwards and was mentioned before a flashback of the plane crash that killed her, playing a pivotal role in the season four finale. It was also speculated that Andrea was one of the spirits that attended the wedding of Melinda Gordon and Sam Lucas at the end. Notes *Andrea's nickname when she was younger was 'Squeaky'. *Andrea's hobbies included Latin, painting, electric bass, harp, Bonsai gardening, neon sign making, enamel jewelry, tango, and stand-up comedy. *Andrea loved sweets and anything from Village Java. *Andrea hated rats. *Andrea's favourite ice cream was Cherry Garcia. *Andrea loved Survivor. *Her death date was confirmed to be May 11, 2006, in the season two finale, when Melinda and Rick discover of the four incidents that had happened in the past, all on May 11. The plane crash was one of them, thus confirming her death date. However, in the Book of Changes, Andrea's death date was written as April 28, which was actually when the episode, "Free Fall", aired. *Andrea's time of death was 10:30 am on May 11, 2006. *With the show going five years into the future in Season 5 (which originally is set in 2009) Season 5 will be set during 2014 - 2015. Nine years since Andrea died. If a Season 6 is made, then the Season 6 finale will be the 10-year anniversary of Andrea's death. *Andrea's death was foreseen in the episode "Miss Fortune" while Andrea was having her palms read, the reading showed that there would be tears and pain linked to her brother (at the time Andrea thought it would be her losing her brother when in fact, it was the other way around). Category:Main Characters Category:Deceased Characters